Reading 1
Dt 10:12-22
Moses said to the people:
“And now, Israel, what does the LORD, your God, ask of you
but to fear the LORD, your God, and follow his ways exactly,
to love and serve the LORD, your God,
with all your heart and all your soul,
to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD
which I enjoin on you today for your own good?
Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens,
belong to the LORD, your God,
as well as the earth and everything on it.
Yet in his love for your fathers the LORD was so attached to them
as to choose you, their descendants,
in preference to all other peoples, as indeed he has now done.
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and be no longer stiff-necked.
For the LORD, your God, is the God of gods,
the LORD of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome,
who has no favorites, accepts no bribes;
who executes justice for the orphan and the widow,
and befriends the alien, feeding and clothing him.
So you too must befriend the alien,
for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.
The LORD, your God, shall you fear, and him shall you serve;
hold fast to him and swear by his name.
He is your glory, he, your God,
who has done for you those great and terrible things
which your own eyes have seen.
Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy strong,
and now the LORD, your God,
has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.”
147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20
Responsorial PsalmR. (12a)
Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Gospel
Mt 17:22-27
As Jesus and his disciples were gathering in Galilee,
Jesus said to them,
“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men,
and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.”
And they were overwhelmed with grief.
When they came to Capernaum,
the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said,
“Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?”
“Yes,” he said.
When he came into the house, before he had time to speak,
Jesus asked him, “What is your opinion, Simon?
From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax?
From their subjects or from foreigners?”
When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him,
“Then the subjects are exempt.
But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook,
and take the first fish that comes up.
Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax.
Give that to them for me and for you.”
Meditation: Matthew 17:22-27
“The subjects are exempt.” (Matthew 17:26)
Jesus’ words often have a deeper meaning than is first apparent. That’s especially true here. When asked to pay the Temple tax, Jesus makes the point that kings collect certain taxes only from foreigners, not subjects. He says that subjects—other translations have “sons”—are exempt from this tax. As the Son of God, then, he is certainly exempt from the Temple tax. But he goes on to say that all children are exempt, meaning his followers as well. He only pays the tax so as not to offend those who had not yet grasped who he was.
What a marvelous truth: Children are free because they are children! The prodigal son, who came back to his father’s house after squandering everything, experienced this freedom in a deep way (Luke 15:11-31). He had become a virtual slave in another country—as we sometimes become slaves of sin. Yet when he came back home, his father treated him with all the dignity of a son. The father was so overjoyed that he forgot all the trouble his wayward son had wrought, and he welcomed him with open arms!
This truth of our freedom as sons and daughters of God can cut both ways. We are even free to stray from him if we choose. We are free to experience the sting of sin and its effects. Ironically, we are even free to become enslaved to a habit of sin!
Of course, we know that this is not the wisest strategy. No, real freedom is the freedom to do God’s will. It’s the freedom that “exempts” us from merely following him out of fear or obligation—the freedom to actually want to live holy lives.
So why be a slave when we can be free? Why live under the burden of divine commandments when you can know the dignity of being a child of God? You are exempt! You have nothing to fear! So go ahead and enjoy your freedom. Let it fill your heart and guide your actions. You’ll end up pleasing God much more than if you were to obey out of fear and anxiety!
“Lord, thank you for the freedom I have to love and serve you. Give me the grace to respond joyfully to whatever you ask of me today.”
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